Product Description

Starring James Van Der Beek (TV's DAWSON'S CREEK, VARSITY BLUES) and Dylan McDermott (TV's THE PRACTICE) alongside Ashton Kutcher (TV's THAT '70s SHOW) and Usher Raymond (THE FACULTY) ... After the Civil War, Texas is at the mercy of murderous bandits! From the chaos emerges a group of young cowboys summoned to reform the Texas Rangers and restore order! Under the fearless leadership of Leander McNelly (McDermott), the new Rangers find themselves severely outgunned and outgunned, but unmatched for courage and determination. From the director of HALLOWEEN: H20 and featuring Rachael Leigh Cook (SHE'S ALL THAT) and Robert Patrick (SPY KIDS).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29871 in DVD
• Brand: BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2002-04-16
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
If you want to see James Van Der Beek and Ashton Kutcher decked out in cowboy hats and leather chaps, Texas Rangers is the movie for you. Van Der Beek is a young recruit out to avenge his family, who were shot down by bandits; Dylan McDermott is the loose cannon commander of the Texas Rangers unit that's out to track those bandits down. Along for the ride are Kutcher, Usher Raymond, Robert Patrick, Randy Travis, and a host of other good-looking young actors. Rachael Leigh Cook provides some assurance that everything is appropriately heterosexual, though a scene in which Kutcher jumps into a washtub with Van Der Beek may raise some eyebrows. Head bandit Alfred Molina grins with nonchalance as his men gun down innocent bystanders. No one in the cast even attempts to speak with a credible Texas accent, but everyone's hair is exquisitely mussed. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Texas Rangers
If these actors are Texas Rangers then Charlie's Angels are real detectives. I am a Western fan and this movie has no redeeming value. Tom Skerritt should be ashamed to appear in this film. If I could have rated this video at -5 I would have done so.

Misses the Bullet
In the after-effects of the Civil War, Texas is a sleeping giant falling prey to vicious marauding and theft by Mexican invaders. The Rangers were disbanded to fight for the South; now they are to be regrouped, with a former pastor-turned-lawman, Leander McNelly (Dylan McDermott), in he lead. Persuaded by the government to undertake the training and leadership of thirty rag-taggled, half-bit schoolboy-turned-lawmen, McNelly finds himself at odds not only with his own priorities and shaken faith, but his inability in leadership.

One member of this poor crop of unshaven boys is Dunnison (James Van Der Beek), whose family was slaughtered by the Mexicans. Due to his writing talents, he is chosen as McNelly's personal aid and undertakes documenting all of the reports to Washington.

With very little time for training, the Rangers saddle up and ride off to meet their fates. But prejudice, poor shooting skills and mistakes are the least of McNelly's problems. There is also a traitor among them... a character who will turncoat... and a violent climax in Mexico.

Texas Rangers (PG13) has a good heart and could have been a great film. It's been a long time since there's been a truly excellent western on the market -- not since Jimmy Stewart donned his white hat and rode into the west. Sadly, this one will not fill the void. The fact that the film was not pre-released for the press is a dead giveaway that something is lacking. The acting is excellent -- pity the scriptwriters didn't give Dylan McDermott and Rachael Leigh Cook more to work with. The soundtrack is gorgeous -- will it be released? Probably not, considering the big-screen failure of the film.
  
The movie abounds with clever camera angles, gorgeous photography and costuming, and truly unanticipated moments -- ambushes, traitors, and clever banter. Sadly it is based more on gunfights and cheap thrills than pliable emotional conflict. Characters are under-developed; we hope they don't get killed but don't really have a reason why. The female leads in particular are too overlooked, the actresses unable to exhibit their full potential. What this film desperately needed was a side plot or a stronger main plot to draw from -- more emotion, less coldness. Perhaps a stronger romance; more background information. Too many characters are left in the lurch, their personalities trailing off as if the writer didn't know what to do with them. 

In conclusion, it was worth a matinee. I came away sorry for the under-development and violence, but willing to watch it again on video or DVD (prefurably a Director's Cut). If you like the tradition of old westerns, "Texas Rangers" fits the bill. But if you shy away from nonstop violence and cheap character development, you may want to pass this one over for a Christmas blockbuster. It had a lot of potential... but was too slow on the draw.

Texas Rangers stinks up the screen - in cowboy outfits!
Hot off the popularity of their television shows, James Van der Beek (Dawson's Creek) and Ashton Kutcher (That 70's Show) attempt to score big on the big screen. That has since happened, but this film wasn't the reason why.

The producers were obviously attempting to throw quantity not quality at the big screen, since they employed a host of well known television actors and a couple of singers. You have Dylan McDermott as the Captain in charge, Robert Patrick, Matt Keeslar, Usher Raymond, Tom Skerritt, and even Randy Travis. As an after thought they've even thrown in Rachel Leigh Cook as the token female character.

The acting is never bad, it's just that there's really not much going on here to warrant any excitement. You can sit and watch this film from beginning to end without blinking and you'll swear that you must have missed something. That's what makes this simplistic film bad.

The plot is super simple: bad men kill innocent people. Young studly guys band together as the "Texas Rangers" to right the wrongs, but not for revenge.

Unfortunately, this story doesn't have oomph to make it any good. Alfred Molina, as the bad guy, just never comes off quite as bad as he should. The reason? A fine actor, Molina seems to be bored and somewhat ashamed to be in such a stinker. He does bad things but he never comes off as evil or homicidal or even psycho. This movie really begs for a Bruce Dern in "The Cowboys".

And the good guys...these guys are apparently sharing one brain among the 30 of them. In one fight scene, they come charging in a single line across the plains to a wooded area where the bad guys are holed up with tons of places to hide. Of course the good guys are masacred. Since no one bother to introduce us to any of the good guys beyond the major players, we really can't care too much if any of the good guys get killed. In fact, I was hoping that more of them would be killed off - they really started to annoy me.

In short, Texas Rangers is long on being a Teen Beat homage and short on being a real western. There is very little character development in either the good or bad guy camps and there is no storyline, but the central one. I think there was an attempt to throw in a love story angle, but it gets lost when Kutcher jumps in the tub with van der Beek.

This film isn't the worst I've seen, but it certainly isn't even noteworthy.

If you want to see a bunch of your favorite television studs in a cowboy outfits, then by all means rent this. Otherwise rent a decent western, such as The Cowboys, Rooster Cogburn, Shane, or Tombstone.